USA: Signals Weak for TV-Ad Market

Broadcast-television ratings have dropped sharply this season. And that, combined with the weak economy and competition from other media, augurs badly for the spring ad-sales market, ad buyers and analysts say.

Some of them are predicting that the broadcast networks' take will be steady to slightly lower in the so-called upfront, the annual bazaar in which TV executives pitch their new shows for the coming season.

More TV ad dollars are expected to move to cable channels, a shift that has accelerated in the past couple of years. But both broadcast and cable television are facing more intense competition from online media, including Web video outlets.

That rivalry is likely to be on full display in May, when some of the online giants and TV networks go head to head with glitzy events aimed at wooing advertisers. After the presentations, the TV networks step up their ad-sales negotiations, trying to win commitments for the bulk of the new TV season's ad time.

Magna Global, a research and ad-buying arm of Interpublic Group IPG -0.46% of Cos., estimates that the money raised in this year's TV upfront market could be up about 2%. Magna expects broadcast networks' dollar volume could fall 2% while cable TV's volume could rise about 5%